IPL 2025: 27 Crore Rishabh Pant Goes For Duck On LSG Debut! Is Lucknow 'Captain Curse' Real Or Just Poor Batting?

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Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) skipper and star wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant, who became the most expensive player in IPL history, had a disappointing return to the league. In LSG's opening match of IPL 2025 against Delhi Capitals, Pant was dismissed for a six-ball duck.

Purchased for a staggering Rs 27 crore at the auction, the expectations were immense, but he couldn't make an impact.

LSG 'Captain Curse' Or Poor Batting?

An interesting stat has come up with Pant's dismissal. KL Rahul, who never got out on a duck during his time at Punjab Kings, went out for a duck on his Lucknow debut as captain back in 2022. Cut to 2025, Pant also never got out for zero during his time in Delhi. But now on his Lucknow debut as skipper, fell to a 6-ball duck.

Talking about his dismissal, while facing a sharp delivery from Kuldeep Yadav, Pant attempted an inside-out shot, only to be caught by Faf du Plessis at long-off. With such a high-profile signing, the pressure on Pant is bound to increase as he looks to bounce back in the upcoming matches.

It was actually his miscued shot that led to the wicket and we feel it has little to do with co-incidental moments.

Speaking of the match, Delhi put Lucknow to bat first and the Rishabh Pant-led side put up a huge total of 209 in the first innings thanks to crucial knocks from Mitchell Marsh (72) and Nicholas Pooran (75). Mitchell Starc was the pick of the bowlers for Delhi as he finished with figures 4-42-3.

A lot is expected from Pant as he has been picked to lead the franchise for many years to come. Hopefully, he will buckle up and get back to his usual groove.

Playing XIs

Delhi Capitals: Jake Fraser-McGurk, Faf du Plessis, Abishek Porel (wk), Sameer Rizvi , Axar Patel (c), Tristan Stubbs, Vipraj Nigam, Mitchell Starc, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohit Sharma, Mukesh Kumar.

Lucknow Super Giants: Aiden Markram, Mitchell Marsh, Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni, Rishabh Pant (c & wk), David Miller, Prince Yadav, Digvesh Rathi, Shahbaz Ahmed, Shardul Thakur, Ravi Bishnoi